By Chris Williams: Next month on June 5th, former WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s) will try his luck at at light middleweight when he takes on unbeaten light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) at Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx. This is kind of a do or die fight for Cotto, as he’s been beaten in two out of his last four fights. Both of those losses have been by TKO, and some boxing fans are whispering that Cotto may be over-the-hill.

If Cotto gets stopped again, it’s hard to say what more he can do in the sport. Foreman isn’t a really big puncher and if he’s able to take Cotto out, it would seem like a good indication that Cotto’s ability to soak up punishment has been compromised in his stoppage losses to Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao. The problem for Cotto is that he’s starting to take a lot of punishment in his fights. Indeed, Cotto has had three very hard fights in the last two years against Margarito, Joshua Clottey and Pacquiao, and hasn’t give himself much of a rest in between those grueling fights.

Some people might think that Foreman, a light puncher, is Cotto’s way of resting up by taking on someone who isn’t nearly as dangerous as Pacquiao and Margarito. Maybe, but Foreman can punch a lot better than he’s given credit for. In his fight against Daniel Santos last November, I was very impressed with Foreman’s power. He seems to be getting stronger as he ages and is sitting down more on his shots. I think if Foreman hits Cotto with the same kind of shots that he was tagging Santos with, he could take him out at some point.

Cotto recently picked up a new trainer in Emanuel Steward. I like that move, but I don’t see that changing much for the Foreman fight. Steward likes his fighters to mix it up and actively urges them to go after their opponents. This is how Cotto fights anyway. He doesn’t need to be encouraged to go after someone. He just naturally does it. I think Cotto is going to be eating an awful lot of shots from Foreman on June 5th, and if he goes after him it will only be playing into the hands of Foreman. Yuri likes to hit and run all night long. And when his opponents come after him, he’s really good at picking them off while they’re on their way in.

Cotto will end up looking really bad if he attacks Foreman the way he usually does against his opponents. I think this is a bad fight for Cotto right now and I can’t see anything good coming from it. Foreman is the wrong kind of opponent and this is the wrong time to be fighting him. Cotto is coming off a brutal beat down at the hands of Pacquiao last year. What Cotto doesn’t need is another tough opponent that is going to be raining punches down on him all night long. Foreman, 5’11”, will have a considerable size advantage over the short 5’7″ Cotto. That’s a big difference. Foreman is used to fighting bigger guys, whereas Cotto is more of a pumped up light welterweight than a true welterweight in terms of frame size.